


Don't Listen to Dickinson

by genesiee



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, The NurseyDex isnt explicit so you have to be looking for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-07 00:06:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6775831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genesiee/pseuds/genesiee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a secret is told, a secret is kept, and Dex literally almost dies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Listen to Dickinson

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've written since I was twelve years old, so it's quite short. Be kind, please.

_381_  
_A Secret told―_  
_Ceases to be a Secret―then―_  
_A Secret―kept―_  
_That―can appal but One―_

_Better of it―continual be afraid―_

_Than it―_  
_And Whom you told it to―beside―_

-Emily Dickinson

* * *

 

It’s Friday night and they’re sprawled out on Chowder’s floor with an empty pizza box between them and several takeout boxes littered throughout the room. Nursey sits cross legged with a Sharks blanket draped across his shoulders, an island in the sea of literature homework spread before him.

“Hey.”

Dex looks up from his laptop for the first time in what feels like hours, vision swimming, and he’s almost startled by how quiet the room had gotten without him noticing.

“Yeah?”

“Chow’s out.”

Dex cranes his neck to see and, sure enough, finds Chowder curled in on himself with a dribble of drool at the junction of his parted lips. Beside him, the clock reads nine-thirty.

“Wanna head back to the dorms?”

“It’s been kind of a long day. Think he’ll mind if we spend the night?”

Chowder won’t mind, because he never does, but Dex’s mouth still twists down at the thought of staying without permission.

“We can go back though,” Nursey says, “if you really want to.”

“No, you’re right, he’ll be fine with it. Let’s clean up, though. This place is a fuckin’ pigsty.”

His joints pop when he moves from where he had been lying on his belly for most of the night, so he takes a moment to stretch before flipping his laptop closed. The two make quick work of the food and books, generally shoving their own things back into their bags so the room can regain some semblance of decency before either of them fall asleep on their feet. Nursey insists on tucking Chowder into bed, and then grabs a spare blanket for himself. Dex flips the desk light off, but the moon is bright enough that he can see Derek go over to the window and open it, peering outside and considering.

“What are you doing?”

“Going to the reading room.” His lips twitch, and there’s more to it than what he’s saying out loud, but Dex doesn’t have the energy for this right now.

“You just spent four hours reading.”

“I don’t actually have to read, dipshit”

“I thought you were tired.”

“I’m only going to be, like, fifteen minutes. Wanna come?”

“Not really, no.”

“Here, I’ll help you out.” He’s already squatting outside the window, his hand stretched out to Dex in a way that isn’t a question. His face is cast in darkness, figure backlit by the moon and stars. He’s climbed out the window and crossed over into a different world. It’s always like this; they’re always in two different places and it seems like Derek is always reaching into Dex’s space, like he always wants Dex where he is even if all they’ll do is fight once they get there.

And it doesn’t make sense, but Will climbs out anyway, refusing Derek’s hand because, “I can get out on my own,” but also because he wants some part of this decision to be made on his own terms. It’s a little bit childish, but he can’t bring himself to care.

He has to climb over the black suede couch Chowder has tucked under the window, and it’s awkward, but it’s better than needing to hold Nursey’s hand. Once he puts weight on the foot he has on the roof, it occurs to him that this is possibly a bad idea, but it’s too late to matter because Derek has an arm around his waist and he’s pulling the other half of Dex’s body out into the night sky.

He keeps his arm there when they settle in, probably to keep Dex from chickening out and climbing back in, but it’s okay. It’s nice to have an arm around him when the roof they’re sitting on is likely to give out in the next ten minutes.

Nursey turns and leans in close until he takes up Dex’s entire field of vision, until the world around him is reduced to Derek’s cheek and the curve of his ear. “I wanna show you something,” warm breath rolling over his own cheek and into his own ear.

There’s no time to process or react because they’re moving before Nursey finishes his sentence and, _oh_ , Dex thinks when he pulls away. The arm around his waist tightens and Derek’s other hand lifts to their faces in slow motion. He presses his index finger to his own lips, a silent shush, then points to Bitty’s window, where dim light spills onto the roof. Muted conversation drifts over to their position only a few feet away.

Nursey takes hold of Will’s hips, ushering him over so that he’s closest to the other window, and then falls still, obviously waiting for something.

There’s a laugh from inside the room, but it’s not Bitty’s.

Dex whips around to look at Nursey, eyes wide. Had he brought him here to spy on Bitty and his… his guest? His nighttime guest?

Derek shakes his head furiously though, again pressing his index finger to his lips.

“The rest of the team misses you so much. Everyone wants to know when you’re coming to visit.”

“I know, I know. It’s been busy, but I promise I’ll come soon. I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

It’s silent and then there’s a giggle on Bitty’s end and Dex realizes he’s eavesdropping on a conversation with Jack. It’s not the same as a nighttime guest, but it’s still really weird and he doesn’t understand why Derek still looks like he’s waiting for something. He tries to get the question across without saying anything, but only gets a smile in return.

And then.

“Alright, Jack, it’s about bedtime, so I’m gonna get settled in now. I know you have an early practice tomorrow.”

“Okay, Bittle. I love you.”

“I love you too, baby. Talk to you tomorrow.”

Dex slips. As his buttis dragged down tile like the world’s least enjoyable version of sledding, he thinks, _Oh, my God, I’m going to die because I eavesdropped on an intimate conversation and now God is going to kill me_ , but Nursey’s arm is still there and they’re both dangerously close to falling off the edge of the roof now. They’re also dangerously close to screaming and letting Bitty know they had been creeping on his Skype call, but somehow they make it back to the top without having to deal with either situation.

So they creep back into Chowder’s room with thundering hearts and enough of an adrenaline crash to make them collapse against the foot of his bed when they’re confident in their safety.

“Romantic, right?” Derek’s voice is breathless in the dark.

“I feel really gross.”

“Because you just listened to our teammate being all lovey-dovey with our former captain and current NHL star Jack Zimmermann?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Chill, Dex. They’re a cute couple.”

“No, I mean… there’s a reason they kept it a secret from us. And I just witnessed something super private. And so did you. Wait, why did you even show me that? You knew and you... You just, like, outed our teammates. Nursey, what the fuck?”

“A secret told ceases to be a secret,”

“Doesn’t that poem advise people to do the exact opposite of what you just did?”

“You _were_ paying attention to my annotation homework!”

“You’re an asshole.” But there’s no heat behind it. Nursey is smiling his dopey smile and Dex can’t help but feel the same wave of affection he knows Nursey felt when he first discovered Bitty’s relationship.

“I really am happy for them,” Nursey’s head is lolling on Dex’s shoulder as he struggles to wrap his blanket around the two of them, “and I hope they trust us enough to tell us someday. I hope they don’t take Emily’s advice. It’s not better to be afraid. Dex, I-”

“We should tell them we heard them.”

A beat.

“You’re probably right. I’m too tired for critical thinking. We should sleep.”

“I’m not going to sleep sitting on this floor with you.”

As gently as possible, they nudge Chowder to the edge of the bed and then Nursey shoves up against the wall, half-heartedly shucking off his jeans without even attempting to sit up. Dex turns away politely to take his own off and then crawls, with palpable awkwardness, in between Nursey and Chowder, too tired to acknowledge anything he might find uncomfortable about the situation in the morning. Nursey drapes his arm around Dex’s middle.

Dex is tucked between the warmth of his teammates, literally and figuratively. He knows everything will be weird when he wakes up. But for now, his heart is full in a way he never really thought it could be, and he’s happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Dex is always Ready to Fight, but he is also a closet sap, don't argue with me on this. 
> 
> Come say hi on Tumblr! My url is genesiee.tumblr.com


End file.
